Chapter 1324: 【True Feelings】 (Part 1)

The phosphorus fire bombs exploded one after another at a point about three feet away from Meng Zizai, green flames suddenly spreading to cover a radius of one zhang, and the poison‑coated steel needles shot through the phosphorus fire into the already‑encircled Meng Zizai.

Xi Yan rushed out at astonishing speed, not choosing to flee from Hu Xiaotian, because she did not want Hu Xiaotian to voluntarily yield and thus implicate him.

Yet a palm stretched out from within the phosphorus fire, appearing slow but giving the sudden illusion that time had frozen; this palm struck Xi Yan's shoulder, sending her flying sideways, after which Meng Zizai walked out of the fire unscathed, not a hair harmed, and Xi Yan's full‑force counterattack was utterly insignificant before him.

At this moment Hu Xiaotian acted, charging forward and striking her back with a palm that made a soft 'peng' sound; Xi Yan spat out a mouthful of blood. Though his palm seemed to block her, in fact it helped her dispel Meng Zizai's overwhelming palm force; Xi Yan's delicate body slowly settled to the ground, her feet still on the floor, but she could no longer control her trembling.

Mu Rongzhan's slender sword tore the air with a sharp whistle, its blade revealing a visible foot‑long gleam of snow‑bright sword light that thrust straight at Xi Yan's throat.

Xi Yan's visage grew pallid; she shut her eyes tightly, her heart filled with sorrow, 'Xiaotian, we shall meet again in the next life!'

But at this moment Hu Xiaotian grabbed Xi Yan in one swift motion, using his body to shield her, and roared, 'Stop!'

Mu Rongzhan's attack stalled, his sword tip forced to hang mid‑motion; Meng Zizai and Hong Beimo halted their steps, and all three turned their gazes to Hu Xiaotian standing in the encirclement. Hong Beimo looked puzzled and said, 'Sir Hu, what do you mean by this?'

Xi Yan's chest was soaked in blood; Meng Zizai's palm had shaken her meridians, causing a rending pain in her chest, yet seeing Hu Xiaotian step forward to shield her filled her heart with utmost sweetness, thinking, 'If he treats me thus, even dying now would be worth it.' At the same time she could not help worrying for Hu Xiaotian—his protection of her played right into these people's hands, giving them a perfect excuse to frame him for conspiring with her to poison the princess. Feeling both joy and anxiety, Xi Yan's vision darkened and she fainted.

Hu Xiaotian ignored Hong Beimo's question, coldly staring at Mu Rongzhan and saying, 'I also want to ask, Commander Mu, what do you mean by this?'

Mu Rongzhan replied, 'Cannot Sir Hu see that he is impersonating me?'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Even if he is an impostor, we must get to the bottom of it! Commander Mu, why are you so eager to kill and silence?' As he uttered the four words 'kill and silence,' he glared fiercely at Meng Zizai, who furrowed his brows; his earlier palm had not been lenient either. If Hu Xiaotian had not intervened in time, this fake Commander Mu would likely have been struck down by his own palm.

Hong Beimo secretly sighed that Hu Xiaotian was crafty enough, even at this moment remembering to bite back, spitting blood at others—no one is a fool. Earlier his defense of the impostor Commander Mu was plain for all to see, yet Mu Rongzhan and Meng Zizai clearly intended to kill the imposter; Hong Beimo found the situation growing ever more amusing, at least not a bad thing for him.

Hong Beimo said, 'Sir Hu, just who is he?'

Hu Xiaotian snorted coldly, 'You ask me? How would I know? I thought he was Commander Mu.' He reached out and peeled off the human‑skin mask from Xi Yan's face. Everyone looked; though Xi Yan was gravely wounded and wan, her peerless beauty remained unmarred.

Hu Xiaotian feigned puzzlement, staring at Xi Yan's visage for a good while, then turned to Mu Rongzhan and said, 'Commander Mu, you ought to know her, right?'

Mu Rongzhan said, 'How could I know her?' while silently cursing Hu Xiaotian for deliberately pointing the blame at him.

Hu Xiaotian looked to Hong Beimo, who also shook his head, indicating he had never seen Xi Yan.

Meng Zizai said, 'As for me, I do recognize her!'

Everyone heard him and turned their gaze to Meng Zizai, who said, 'If I remember correctly, she ought to be the Saintess Xi Yan of the Wuxian Sect, and also the personal disciple of the sect's leader.' He gave Hu Xiaotian a meaningful look and said, 'Sir Hu, you should know her, shouldn't you? When you escorted Prince Zhou to Xiezhou, didn't you have dealings with her?'

Hu Xiaotian secretly sighed, 'Old Fox Meng Zizai hides his depths well; from his behavior I'd wager eight or nine times out of ten he is the Chief of Xuantian Guan, Ren Tianqing—Qin Yutong originally acted on his orders to escort Prince Zhou alongside me, and along the way she and Xi Yan matched wits and courage, so they must know each other's backgrounds well. As the leading figure of Xuantian Guan, Meng Zizai's familiarity with Xi Yan is quite natural.' Nowadays Hu Xiaotian saw no need to conceal his acquaintance with Xi Yan; he nodded and said, 'Indeed it is her—I never imagined her disguise skill could be so superb; I had taken her for Commander Mu.'

Mu Rongzhan's face grew ever paler; Hu Xiaotian's every word seemed aimed at him. One could say it was not only directed at him—Hu Xiaotian was also making clear that he himself had not recognized this Commander Mu as an impostor.

Hong Beimo said softly, 'I think we should hand her over to me for handling; I don't believe we cannot get the truth from her mouth.'

Mu Rongzhan said, 'She impersonated me first, and moreover this is within my jurisdiction, so the matter ought to be handled by me.' They all wanted to take Xi Yan away, but Hu Xiaotian would not let them simply whisk her off; he said coldly, 'I am the one who seized her, so naturally I shall deal with it—you two gentlemen need not trouble yourselves.'

Meng Zizai said, 'The urgent task is to ask her where the antidote lies; other matters can be postponed.'

From the exchange among the few, Hu Xiaotian could see that the three were not of one mind; he secretly rejoiced, fortunate that this was the case, for if they had jointly plotted against him, today would have been troublesome. Although he had temporarily cleared himself of suspicion, none of these people lacked deep scheming and old‑crafty wit, and they would not be easily fooled by him. 'Xi Yan, Xi Yan, you are usually clever and quick‑witted, extraordinarily wise—why have you been so careless today, walking straight into the net?'

Actually Hu Xiaotian understood that Xi Yan was trying to remind him; Meng Zizai had just mentioned the 'push palace exchange blood' technique, and if Xi Yan had not appeared, he would likely have risked trying it despite having no other option, fearing that eight or nine times out of ten Meng Zizai would have calculated it against him. Xi Yan had come at the risk of her own life to reach him; thinking of this, Hu Xiaotian's heart felt as if cut by a knife. Gazing at her pale, lovely face, he silently vowed that no matter the cost he would rescue her from here—but even with his resolve and courage, under everyone's watch he might not succeed.

A gloomy voice sounded from behind: 'Why not hand her over to this old servant first?'

It was Quan De'an who appeared; seeing him, Hu Xiaotian's heart sank. Even back in the Qingyun era Quan De'an knew of his connection with Xi Yan and was clear about her identity. Quan De'an treasured Qiqi as his own life; if he believed Xi Yan had poisoned Qiqi, he would spare no means to force her to produce the antidote. Yet on second thought, precisely because of that, Quan De'an would not lightly harm her life; as for Hong Beimo, he might even wish Qiqi dead, while the stances of Meng Zizai and Mu Rongzhan and their true motives were unknown to Hu Xiaotian. With Xi Yan in their hands, danger would likely be greater. If he insisted on not handing her over to them, they might seize the chance to frame him; after weighing the pros and cons, Hu Xiaotian decided to gamble on Quan De'an, nodding and saying, 'Handing her over to Eunuch Quan puts my mind at ease.'

Quan De'an walked over, lightly placing his palm on Xi Yan's shoulder; her delicate frame trembled and she suddenly opened her eyes. Quan De'an said, 'Will you walk yourself, or shall we break your legs and have someone carry you in?'

Although Xi Yan was imprisoned, she showed no trace of panic; she drew a breath to ease the pain from Meng Zizai's palm just given, and whispered, 'If you dare move a single hair of mine, do you not fear my master coming for revenge?'

Quan De'an replied, 'Such words may work on others, but they have no effect on us. If the princess suffers any mishap, we will have nothing left to live for; believe it or not, for every bit of pain the Princess endures, we will repay you tenfold.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Demoness, be sensible and quickly hand over the antidote, or else…'

'Or what?' Xi Yan fixed her beautiful eyes on Hu Xiaotian; her originally silver pupils swiftly returned to their natural black, her gaze shimmering with tears that made her utterly pitiful to behold.

Xi Yan sighed, 'You all gang up on a lone weak woman—are you even men?' Her gaze shifted to Quan De'an's face, full of mockery: 'I had forgotten you are not a man at all.'

Quan De'an said, 'Miss, as long as you hand over the antidote, we will leave you a whole corpse.'

Xi Yan giggled, but the laughter tugged at her wound; with a 'puff!' she spat out a mouthful of blood, barely managing to suppress it before pressing her chest. She fixed her gaze on Meng Zizai and said, 'If you are certain I poisoned your princess, why then strike me with poison? Do you merely wish to kill me quickly?' She then turned to Mu Rongzhan and asked, 'You also want me dead—is it hatred of me in your heart, or simply eagerness to silence me?'

Both Mu Rongzhan and Meng Zizai wore ugly expressions; just now their strikes had been lethal blows, and everyone nearby were experts—this fact could not be concealed.

Xi Yan said, 'Do you not realize that if I die, your precious princess must be buried with me?'

Hong Beimo watched coolly as if unconcerned, finding that tonight's affairs were becoming ever more interesting.

Meng Zizai smiled faintly, 'Do you truly believe the Wuxian Sect's poison‑craft is unrivaled under heaven?'

Xi Yan replied, 'Of course it wouldn't trouble you, a master of Xuantian Guan; if so, why have you delayed rescuing anyone? Is it lack of ability, or simply that you do not wish to save the princess?'

'Impudent!' Meng Zizai bellowed. (To be continued…^~^)